February treasure...

This month, my mother gave me a very special gift. These silver hurricanes were a wedding gift for my parents from Dr. Horowitz. He delivered my father. I like thinking of the days when family doctors were considered part of the family, invited to weddings.
My parents were married February 12, 1953. Upon announcing their engagement, my grandmother had one request. Please don’t get married in February, like your sister. February can be a brutal month in the east but a honeymoon waited in Bermuda so that February date promised the tropics.


These candlesticks survived moving from New Jersey to Arizona to Indiana to Arizona, and then to three different houses in southern Arizona. But I was nervous to move them the five minutes between my house and my mother’s. I waited until WB could drive so I could keep them on my lap from her house to ours. They were wrapped in every dish towel I own. As you can see, they survived just like they always have.



So these lovely hurricanes have not left my table since she gave them to me. I like them unpolished and my mother is okay with that. So far they have flanked hydrangeas, pink tulips, red tulips and now these. For me, silver works with anything, even a casual table like this.


Please join Susan and other wonderful tablescapers at Between Naps on the Porch.

so happy he's mine...

He asked me to the Valentine's Day dance when we were sophomores in high school.
He still remembers the dress I wore.
I don't.

I made him a cake.
Twice.
My brothers were happy that the first one wasn't perfect enough.

I am so very thankful that he is still my Valentine
and I am still his...

Happy Valentine's Day.

a change in plans...

This morning, we bundled up early to go watch the blue herons. It is nest building season and we love watching them fly with branches in their beaks. We left the house and headed west. There in the sky was another sight. The herons would still be there next weekend.

We were going to chase balloons.



While I keep my eyes peeled to the sky, WB is excellent at translating:

"Turn this way."




















"I need to get beyond those wires."

"I need to have my back to the sun."




















"I like the colors on that balloon better than this balloon."















He always manages to get me in just the right place and at just the right time.

a bowl of tomatoes...

While I was taking pictures of tomatoes yesterday, all I could think of was "The Four Seasons", a movie from the '80's. There was a character who was an obsessed photographer, working to get just the right shot. "For a year and a half, all we talked about was zucchini. Then for another year it was green peppers - that was a nice change."

I am always surprised when I hear people who enjoy photography say that they have nothing to shoot. My problem seems to be just the opposite. Everything catches my eye. Too much catches my eye. I notice the shape of the lamp. I see my husband's hands as he works in the garden. The light falls on the clean stack of dishes. Or I walk by a bowl of tomatoes.

I am hoping, unlike Anne in "The Four Seasons", that I will be able to move on from the tomatoes. Should not be a problem since we will be eating these tonight.

will you be another statistic?

From NPR: Avocado consumption during the Super Bowl has become the stuff of urban legend. Most of the statistics are probably exaggerated, but that's not going to stop us from repeating them. Because one says Americans will consume about 50 million pounds of the fruit as they sit on their couches watching the game. A more graphic claim comes from the California Avocado Commission. The California Avocado Commission has been quoted saying the amount of guacamole that Americans will eat this Sunday is enough to cover a football field - end-zone to end-zone, waist deep.

I promise, my guacamole recipe is worth trying.

Happy Super Bowl. In honor of my dad and my brother, GO PACKERS!

baby, it's cold outside!

I admit it. We desert dwellers are wimps. We do not have real winter and when it actually does come, we really don't know what to do with it. Our temperatures, both lows and highs in the last 24 hours are breaking records. There are broken water pipes all over town. My car is in for service today and they called to say the windshield water system wasn't working and how much it would be to fix. They called back a few hours later to tell me it had been frozen and nothing was wrong. We aren't used to checking for things that may be frozen. We haven't reached 40 degrees today and with the wind chill, it was 4 degrees early this morning. My garden looks like nothing will ever bloom again. Gardenias, geraniums and hibiscus have given up. Bougainvilleas, blue plumbago, my lime tree, my lemon tree. They all look gone. Despite the fact that it sounds like I am complaining about the cold, I am not. We are only allowed to complain about the heat around here.



So, tonight, there is soup for supper. Our beloved Wildcats are playing in California and we'll be watching. We are hunkering down with a blazing fire and bowls of chowder. Life is good. Indeed.



It's been a while and for that, I apologize.

Check out Susan and others for beautiful tablescapes.